Digging Up Bones
by RisingEmber
Summary: Some secrets are better left buried, others have a nasty habit of resurfacing when you least expect them to. For Jesse Duke, past hurts are revealed when a stranger comes to town and exhumes an old family tragedy.
1. Memories of Martha

_ Jesse told the Widow Meadows that he wasn't sure how he would have made it through after Martha's death without the kids. The question then needed to be answered, "Just who was Martha?" We knew from many mentions and episodes that Jesse's wife's name was Lavinia but Martha and her identity remained an unknown. Nor were we told just what had happened to her that had made getting through her death so difficult for Jesse. This is my take on just who Martha was and what had happened to her. _

**_Due to an overwhelming response in my inbox in the form of Post Messages, I've decided to turn this story into a chapter fic. This one-shot will now be the Prologue to Digging up Bones._**

* * *

Jesse walked up the snowy hill carrying a bouquet of Indian Paintbrush flowers in his hand. Martha had always loved the wildflowers and their vibrant color. Jesse could remember when she would bring them in huge bunches to Lavinia when she was little; especially after a day out by the creek that ran past the southern end of the farm. Martha had looked just like a little wood nymph when she would dance around the house with the flowers. She had always been such a carefree child and had remained so in her few teen years.

A single solitary tear began to roll down his cheek as the twin headstones that marked his wife and daughter's graves came into view. He and Lavinia had loved their only child with all of their hearts but had been saddened to learn that Lavinia would not be able to have more children after Martha's difficult birth. That heartbreak had been eased, however, when the other children had come out to live at the farm.

Luke had been the first; a small four year old little boy that had come to spend only a few days after the birth of his brand new baby brother only to have his whole family to be claimed in a hospital fire. Jesse could still remember that day as he had gone to tell his nephew what had happened to Luke's parents. Martha was almost ten years old by then but loved her cousin so much; she had let the crying little boy curl up with her in her bed and had told him that she could be his new sister since Luke had just lost his brother. After all, Jesse and Lavinia would be his new parents.

Next had been Bo. He'd only been a baby still when he'd come out to live with the family and Martha had the tendency to dress him up just like a baby doll. A living doll; yes that was exactly how she had treated the infant that would sometimes protest her excessive attention that she gave him by crying LOUDLY anytime she pulled out a new outfit to change him into. Bo's only saving grace was when Luke would complain that Martha was making his cousin look like a girl. He'd even sometimes hide some of the outfits that his older cousin favored when she'd dress up the youngest Duke.

Finally, Martha's wish for a little sister had been fulfilled when Daisy came to live with the rest of them at the old family farm when she was six years old. The two had always been close despite the fact that Daisy was so much younger than her. Martha would share all of her old toys with Daisy even before she came to live with them. When they started to share a room the two could be heard whispering at night nearly all of the time. Oh sure there were times when Martha might have wished that the house hadn't ended up quite so full but Jesse knew that she had much rather preferred the lack of privacy to the loneliness that she had felt on the farm as the only child before the other kids had lost their own families and joined theirs.

The teen years had been a bit rougher though. Once Martha had reached those years she had gone out of her way at times to find solace away from the three that would at times torment her just as any younger brothers and sister would their older sister. At eight, Daisy had begun to read her older cousin's diary and Luke had trailed Martha after Sunday Services when she would try to sneak a few moments with one boy or another in town. Bo, not being one to be outdone, would frequently sneak out and try to scare Martha and whichever date she had when they would kiss at the door once Martha had begun to date. Jesse did know that he hadn't cared for him at the time though if it meant that he could have brought back Martha he would gladly bite his tongue regardless of whichever boy she would bring home. Looking back now, just who the boy had been wasn't important. After that particular incident, Martha had asked the next boy that she had gone out with, Cooter Davenport, to NOT walk her to the door. Instead they had remained in the old car that the boy had borrowed from his father for the night.

Jesse thought back to that horrible night that he and Lavinia had stayed up in the living room as was customary until each of the children were fast asleep in their rooms. The boys and Daisy had been tucked safely in their beds and they had waited for Martha to come home from her night out with her friends. She had begged to be allowed to drive to Capital City to meet them for a movie to celebrate her first night out with her driver's license. Jesse had told her to be home by ten so when midnight had come and gone with not so much as a phone call he had been worried. It wasn't like his daughter to miss curfew or to not call if she was going to be late.

When one o'clock came, Jesse had told Lavinia that he was going out looking for Martha. He never did find her. Lavinia had then gotten on the phone and called their daughter's friends only to learn that she had failed to even show up for the movie. No one had seen her since she had left the farm. When Jesse had returned home empty handed only to have Lavinia tell him that, he had become downright panicked. He of course called Sheriff Varney (Rosco's predecessor) and filed a missing person's report. Meanwhile he and his wife had told the younger children that Martha was staying with her friends for the weekend. Jesse suspected that Luke, being the oldest, hadn't believed him but he hadn't said anything.

It was three long days before the truck that Martha had borrowed from him had been found four counties away at the bottom of a ravine with the keys still in it. Jesse remembered how Varney had refused to allow him to see the inside of the truck; not that it had mattered since he had pushed his way forward to see it anyway. What had greeted him was a sight that to this day still haunted him. The upholstery was stained in what could only be blood and there had been so much of it. Still, there had been no closure. Martha was still no where to be found. To this day her body had yet to be recovered.

After that, Lavinia had begun to slowly wither away before his very eyes. Jesse remembered that nothing seemed to be able to put joy in her eyes any longer after their beautiful daughter had been taken from them. Not even the other children could make her truly laugh in amusement after Martha's death. She had done her best to not let the kids know just how sad she stayed constantly but Jesse knew. On Jesse's part, he knew that he would have never made it through that time period had his kids not needed him to be strong. They had been his life-line in a sense.

Kneeling on his old arthritic knees, Jesse let out a weary sigh. That year after Martha's death had been so hard on all of them but he had not expected it to get even worse. Exactly one year from the last time they had seen Martha, Lavinia failed to wake up from her sleep. The doctor had said that the only explanation that he could give was it appeared that she had died of a broken heart. Lavinia just couldn't live with the knowledge that Martha was gone while at the same time not knowing who was responsible for her murder. She had lost the will to live in a world that would take her daughter away from her.

Jesse brushed a hand along Lavinia's headstone. It read, **"Beloved wife and mother"**. Jesse knew that the words had not done his wife justice but he couldn't think of anything else to say when it was carved. He then allowed his eyes to shift to the marker that was merely symbolic since no grave was beneath it. Jesse placed the flowers in front of the headstone and muttered a "Happy Birthday" to his daughter as he lingered for just a few more moments before he stood and began to head back down the small hill.

As Jesse reached the small gate at the entrance to the family cemetery he turned and read Martha's marker one last time. It simply read, **"Forever sixteen"**.

**~01~**

**Note from the author:**

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	2. A Day of Grieving

Jesse parked his truck in front of Cooter's Garage and glanced around to see that he wasn't in yet for the morning. He knew that the man would be along soon enough and wouldn't mind him parking the truck there while he was over at the bank.

This morning he'd decided to bring this month's rent himself today. This was one month that he knew that J.D. would not try some dubious underhanded trick to take his farm from him. This was one week out of the year that J.D. would respect a truce in regards to setting up his boys and would be the friend that he knew that the graying man would need.

Today would have been Martha's birthday; would have been since she has not had one since her sixteenth. Unfortunately she hadn't lived another week after reaching that momentous mile-stone. Three days after her birthday Martha drove away from the farm to meet up with her friends for a night out on the town and had never been heard from again.

To mark the day, Jesse did as he had done every year since her death. He'd made her favorite breakfast of sweet potato pancakes for the family and had taken a bouquet of flowers up to her marker that rested beside Lavinia's grave. Then, like every year, he will spend the day with his old friend. The same as he had every year since his wife's death. His kids understood that today was one day out of the year that their company was not something that would ease his grief.

Jesse began to walk towards the bank as he glanced around out of habit. On this day, he always would see faces that could be that of his daughter. He knew that it wasn't possible but with the fact that her body had never been recovered, it was only natural to want to hold out hope for the hopeless. Today was no different. As he looked toward the town's only small hotel he saw a stranger with the same soft brown hair that his daughter had had. For an instant he swore that their eyes locked before she pulled a set of suitcases from her trunk and turned to head into the hotel. In that moment Jesse felt the grief of losing his only daughter all over again.

Once Jesse had gotten up to the bank's back door, J.D. opened the door for him to reveal a jug of whiskey waiting on the desk. Today would be one day that Rosco would not interrupt two that had a tenuous friendship. Today would be a day of reverence for the dead.

**~01~**

Getting out of her car, she glanced around the town; taking it all in before walking around to her trunk to grab her suitcases. When she looked up, her eyes caught those of a man that seemed to be looking straight at her. Her heart jumped in her chest before she finally closed her trunk and turned away. She then walked up to the entrance of the small hotel that was just off of Main Street and went in to wait for the man behind the desk to check her in. When the registry book was spun around she paused before signing it.

Travis spun the book around and read the name, Violet May. "Alright, Miss May. I have a room on the second floor all ready for you. I hope you don't mind that it faces the street. If you'd rather, I can find you a room that faces around back."

"The street-facing room will be fine," she smiled reassuringly as she took her key.

"Alright. Now, how long do you plan to be staying with us here in Hazzard?" Travis asked as finished filling out the paperwork for the room.

"I...I haven't decided that just yet," she stooped to pick up her two suitcases as she spoke. "I'd prefer to just play that by ear for right now. We'll start off with a week."

"Okay," Travis marked his paperwork just before his head shot up as if just realizing that the lady needed help with her bags. "Here, let me. Do you have any other bags to take up?"

"Um, yes. I have one more outside in the car."

"Well how about you go and get it and then I'll help you take these on up to your room." Travis gave the stranger a smile as he spoke. He waited for her to retrieve her final bag then carried the two bags up to the room that faced the sleepy town's Main Street. When he carried the bags inside and put the two bags on the bed he noticed that the third case was placed on the small desk in the room. When it was opened Travis saw that it was actually a travel typewriter. "You do a lot of writing, Miss May?"

Glancing down at the typewriter, she nodded. "You could say that's one of the reasons that I came here to Hazzard. I was hoping that coming here could help me get the story out on paper."

"A writer, huh? We don't get too many of them around here. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of stories do you write?"

"Mostly tragedies," she said in a sorrowful tone as she stared out of the window that faced the town's garage for a few moments. She then turned back to Travis and handed him a tip for helping her to signal that she'd like to be left alone as she finished, "Though I haven't figured out how this story will turn out yet."

Travis's eyes shot up since he figured that a writer always knew how their own stories would end but took the hint and merely took the tip and thanked her before leaving the stranger to her writing.

"Alright, Violet May," she spoke aloud to herself as she sat down at the typewriter. Her clothes would wait to be put away. She wanted to start on her novel before she lost her nerve. Just being here in Hazzard had been enough to flood her mind with the story that she had come here to write. She would need to visit the newspaper morgue tomorrow to start her research on some of the finer details but for now she had more than enough to begin. "Let's get this started."

Violet then grabbed some paper and put in her typewriter and went right to working on her story. It was a story that had been a long time in coming and needed to finally be told. Even if it was the last thing that she would ever do.

**~01~**

**Note from the author:**

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	3. Let Me Tell You a Story C1

_**Let Me tell you a Story: Chapter 1**_

_**~01~**_

It had been an ordinary afternoon when Martha Duke arrived home with her father from taking her test to get her driver's license. She'd turned sixteen only three days prior and her father had promised to take her to get them right after school on Friday. Granted, she'd been driving around the farm for years already (sometimes the pick-up that her father used to haul whatever was needed around the property; other times she'd even drive the tractor) but now she could legally drive anywhere in town without having to worry about Sheriff Varney hunting her down for driving without a license.

After pulling up just outside the farmhouse, Martha jumped out of the truck and raced inside, barely remembering to wipe her feet as she did so, with her father close behind her. As soon as Martha saw her mother at the stove she eagerly showed the small piece of paper that was the symbol of her first step to freedom and proof that she was no longer a child.

When Lavinia saw the slip of paper she pulled her daughter in for a hug and congratulated her on passing her test. As she did so, the other three children in the house had come running in cheering for their cousin. At the front was Luke since he knew that, despite it still being six years away, he'd be next. Behind him a snaggle-toothed Bo Duke was hot on his heels.

"May! Does this mean we can go on a car ride?"

Martha scooped her baby cousin up in her arms laughing. Even at six years old, Bo had a terrible time saying words with _**'R'**_ in them. Since he'd first learned to talk she had been May to him and probably always would be. Grinning, Martha bent her forehead to touch his and tickled him before answering, "Not tonight; I've got plans. But maybe Mom and Dad will let me drive ya'll out tomorrow to the Christmas Pageant's practice. You've only got three weeks to become the best little lamb on the stage."

"I don't WANT to be a lamb!" Bo sulked as Martha put him back down on the floor. "I'll look stupid. Why can't I be a shepherd like Luke?"

Lavinia knelt down beside the youngest little Duke Boy and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Bo, anyone can be a shepherd. To steal the show as a little lamb, THAT takes talent. And it won't hurt that you always look adorable anyway. Luke, though, he has all those lines to memorize. Do you really want his part?"

From his place near the stove, Luke scrunched his nose up at the reminder that he had to talk in front of the whole church. Meanwhile, he snuck a cookie off of the plate on the stove and crammed it in his pocket real fast. He'd save it for later. Daisy saw him but she knew that he'd share the cookie so she only grinned from behind him.

Bo, looked like he was in deep thought for a moment before finally saying, "I guess not. But I still don't like having those cotton balls glued on my face!"

Jesse chuckled, "It'll only be for one night. You'll make it."

"Martha," Lavinia stood back up and turned back to the stove to start on supper and noticed that a cookie was missing from the plate. She glanced at the children out of the corner of her eye while trying to spot the guilty party. All four of them looked as innocent as could be which meant that it had probably been Luke that had taken the cookie. He was by far the most devious of the children. "What time is Cooter coming to pick you up tonight?"

Martha eyed her father since she'd already told him about the change of plans. Still, she could only go if her mother said that she could, too. "He can't make it tonight. His father needs him to help on Mr. Drake's car. He'll be free tomorrow night though."

Already at sixteen, Cooter was one of the best backyard mechanics in the whole county. Martha knew that he was already dreaming about having his own shop instead of having to work out in the yard at his father's farm but it would likely take years after graduating before he'll be able to find a lot to start his own garage.

"Then what are these plans that you have for tonight?"

Martha gave her father a pleading look, hoping that he'd convince her mother that she could go out twice in one weekend; at least just this once.

"Lavinia, she and her friends want to all head into Capital City to catch a movie and the theater over there. Considering that it's to celebrate her birthday and getting her license I figured that it wouldn't hurt none just this once," Jesse watched his wife consider their daughter's new plans and knew that she had a refusal on the tip of her tongue. The rule ever since they'd allowed Martha to start going out had been only one night during the weekend. And that was only if she had caught up on her chores and school work.

"Please Mom," Martha bit her lip as she waited for her answer. "It'll just be me, Helen, Cindy Lou and Patsy."

"I don't know…" Lavinia really wanted to say no but knew that if she did she'd end up being the bad parent. It was clear that Jesse had already told her that she could; unless she said no. "What time is the movie over?"

"Nine-thirty. Dad already said that I'd have to be home by ten," Martha nearly jumped up and down, totally giddy that her mother appeared to be giving in.

"Alright-" Lavinia had to pause as Martha jumped into her arms with a squeal as she hugged her and began to mutter her thank yous. "Just this once. But not a minute after ten."

"Yes Ma'am!" Martha also turned to hug her father since she knew that her mother would have never given in if he hadn't helped. "I'll go and get my chores done real quick."

Martha turned to head out to the barn with the other three children hot on her heels. Each of them had their own chores that fit their individual abilities.

Before the four of them had left out through the kitchen door, Lavinia called out to them, "Not so fast, Luke. Empty your pockets."

Luke turned around and gave his most innocent look on his face as if asking _'Who? Me?' _as he did so.

"Luke, do you have something in there, Boy?" Jesse asked as he walked over to his oldest nephew. If his wife was calling him out on something then he likely did.

"No Sir," Luke said as he shuffled his feet.

"Then you won't mind dumping your pockets like I just told you to." Lavinia crossed her arms as she waited for Luke to comply. Finally Luke dug through his pocket and began to pull out everything but the cookie. Lavinia watched as a waded handkerchief and assorted lumps of lint were pulled free from the ten year old boy's pockets. When a frozen and dead toad was pulled out as well, Lavinia gasp as it found its way to the kitchen table. "Lukas Duke, just what were you saving that nasty thing for?"

"I…uh… I was planning to sneak it into the manger tomorrow." Luke muttered as he pictured Enos, who was given the role of Joseph in the pageant, finding the dead animal.

"You were going to do WHAT?" Jesse shook his head knowing that his nephew was hankering for a trip out to the woodshed.

"Alright, Luke. Keep it coming. What else do you have in there?" Lavinia grabbed a washcloth to pick up the dead toad from her clean kitchen table. "I know it's in there so you might as well as pull it out now."

Behind him, Daisy and Bo both snuck on out the door with Martha. Neither wanted to be a part of what was going to come next. Instead, they went out to help feed the chickens and collect the eggs as they watched the oldest Duke Boy led off toward the wood shed only moments after they'd ducked out of the kitchen.

**~01~**

**Note from the author:**

**Please feel free to review and give me your thoughts on it.**

**What you liked about the chapter/story?**

**What could be improved?**


	4. A Trip to the Morgue

Violet looked up from her typewriter and was surprised to see that half of the day was already gone. Those stories, those memories, had been told so many times over the last few years, especially at first, that she could hear them in her sleep now. They practically told themselves. These stories had helped both of them get through the hard times. Thoughts of home, no matter how distant, made them remember that they hadn't always been what they had become.

Violet had come to believe that the only way that she would leave that life behind would be through death. She'd end up in a potter's field with no marker; no one would know that she was dead and no one would grieve for her. Yet, here she sat. In Hazzard trying to excise her inner demons while the Dukes were completely oblivious to the reason why she was here.

Thinking of the Dukes, Violet glanced out of the window and saw Bo and Luke pull up in front of the garage. From the hotel she couldn't tell what they were talking about but the easy camaraderie would have been hard to miss. The men headed into the bay area and it was plain to see that the three of them were used to working on cars together; though in that domain, Cooter would always be King.

Violet made a sad smile as she wondered what it would have been like if a scared young girl had never ended up on the side of the road that cold December evening. What could have happened if she hadn't had begged to go out on that Friday night?

Shaking her head, Violet figured that she might as well as stretch her legs after writing all morning. Perhaps she would go down to the diner for a late lunch. Tomorrow would be an emotionally taxing day. She would be going through the paper trail of what was known of the missing Martha Duke. Seeing what was already in print will be a different experience for her and she could only hope that she was ready for that. Violet not only would visit the morgue at the local newspaper office but she also would need to request the documents that were on file at the Sheriff's station.

In such a small town, Violet had no doubt that the entire town would know why she had come to town by sundown the next day. When that happened, she wondered just how those who had played such an important role in Martha Duke's life would react to the story that she was now writing. After all, they had no idea of just who she was. To them, she is just a stranger who had come to town to dig around in the secrets of their past.

**~01~**

The next morning, Cooter glanced around in his garage with satisfaction. His buddies had come by to help him catch up on some work that had started to get piled up. To be honest, part of that extra work had been their fault considering that they had helped to give Rosco and Enos a bath at least four times in the last week. Yesterday morning had just been the latest.

Bo had seen to it that Rosco's patrol was dried out while Luke saw to it that the car that belonged to Emery got its new timing belt that Cooter had promised would be finished by the time he'd gotten off work yesterday. Each of the men had worked seamlessly while swapping stories and just having a good time. Now with a new workday starting, Cooter just hoped that he wouldn't have too many new dents to knock out of the patrol cars by the end of the day or yet another trip out to the local car wash (also known as Hazzard Pond) to fish one of them out.

Cooter turned the **CLOSED **sign around to show that he was now in for the day and opened the bay doors. Winters in the South could be hit or miss as far as the weather was concerned. At times they could be bitterly cold but recently the coolest that it had been during the day had been in the low fifties so Cooter had no problem with working with the doors wide-open.

Cooter turned the gas pumps on and had just settled in for the morning when he noticed a brunette walking out of the local hotel toward an old beat up wreck of a car that was parked out front. Even from across the street, Cooter could tell that the car wasn't going anywhere. The bald tires had settled overnight and were clearly flat. That car would go further on square tires than it would with the ones that were now on it. When Cooter saw the stranger kick the tires in frustration Cooter headed down the street to offer his help to the woman.

"Seems to me that you could use a little help," Cooter eyed the two tires that he hadn't been able to see from across the way and saw that while they weren't flat along with the other two they were certainly on their last legs. "Could I be of any?"

Violet looked up to see Cooter and momentarily was at a loss of words. When she finally found her words she was almost certain that they had come out faster that she had meant them to. "No- I mean- I suppose you could be. It looks like I'll need some new tires a bit faster than I'd hoped. I'd planned on getting a complete overhaul of the car once I left town. I suppose that it had different ideas."

"Cars do tend to have a mind of their own at times. Was there someplace that you need to go in a hurry? I could help you out."

"I was planning to go to the Newspaper Office for a little research today." Violet threw her purse and notebook that she was carrying onto the back of the car's trunk nearly in disgust. Here she hadn't even really started to do what she'd come to do and already she was running into roadblocks.

"Shoot, that's just down the block over yonder a bit. That won't be no problem gettin' there." Cooter pointed down in the direction of the office that was just at the end of the block down past Boss's bank.

Violet looked confused since she could have sworn that the office had been in the other direction. "I thought that it was out on Haywood Street."

"Nah, it ain't been out that way for nigh on twenty years. Moved closer to town… Let's see… I reckon I'd just got out of school then. Dang, I guess that I've just given away how old I am. By the way, the name's Cooter. Cooter Davenport. I run the garage just across the way there. I don't recall seein' you around these parts before."

"I suppose you wouldn't. I'm just in town for a short while."

"You said you needed to head to the Newspaper Office to do some research. If you don't mind me askin', what kind of research are ya doin'?"

Violet wasn't sure just how much she should tell to him so she just shrugged. "Every town has a few secrets that can be found if one looks deep enough. I was hoping for some inspiration for a new novel that I'm writing."

"A novel? Ma'am, if you plan to get any inspiration from Hazzard, you must be writing a comedy there." Cooter snickered as he thought about the possibility of a character being written based off of Boss or Rosco.

"And why would you say that?"

Cooter chuckled, "We have a few colorful CHARACTERS around town is all; enough to create a cast all of their own. Like take Miss Tisdale, for instance. She's been the Post Mistress since before I's born. How many little ole ladies her age do you find popping wheelies on their motorcycles while delivering the mail?"

Violet laughed at the image that Cooter had just shared. "Not many. I'll give you that. What about the others in town, you say that they are all as colorful as she?"

"Just the tip of the iceberg around here."

"And what about you? Do you share as many shades with the rainbow or are you content to be a bit more dull in comparison to the rest around town?" Violet asked with a touch of laughter in her voice.

Cooter leaned against the side of the car and gave Violet a crooked grin. "Well how about you decide that for yourself? After you finish your research for the day I'd be happy to take ya out to dinner tonight to let you make up your own mind on how colorful I am."

Violet blinked in surprise. The last thing that she'd expected had been to be asked out on a date while in town. Not to mention to be asked out by none other than Cooter himself. "I suppose that could be fun. I might even be tempted to write that comedy after all."

"Good. I'll get this heap over to the garage and see to it that it's up and running again in no time and I'll be over to pick ya up after I close for the day. By the way, you never did give me your name."

"I didn't? Oh," Violet bit her lip slightly. "I'm sorry…It's…Violet May."

"Well then, Miss Violet May, I'll see you this evenin'."

**~01~**

Violet walked into the Newspaper Office and glanced around as she waited for someone to come up to the front area of the building since it was clear that everyone that was in at the moment must have been in the back somewhere. When an older woman finally came out to greet her, Violet told her that she'd like to look through the old back issues of the Hazzard Gazette.

Violet gave the date that she'd like to start looking which earned her an odd look. The Newspaper Woman was used to having a few folks come in every so often to pull up an article that had been missed going back perhaps a month or two. Violet, however, was asking for the back issues of more than twenty years.

Once the large, over-sized book for the month that Martha Duke had gone missing was found, Violet pulled out her notebook and began to start taking notes. The entire time, she could feel the eyes of the Newspaper Woman on her.

**~01~**

Out at the Duke Farm, Jesse had just come in to start making some lunch when his phone rang later that day. Wiping his hands on a dishrag, Jesse answered the phone and was a bit surprised to hear that it was Sarah Eastman. She worked at the Newspaper Office but Jesse had rarely had a reason to speak with her.

_"Jesse, I thought that I'd best let you know something that seemed a bit odd to me."_

"What is it, Sarah?"

_"There's a stranger here and she's been goin' through the Morgue."_

Jesse's brows furled, "What's that got to do with me?"

_"Jesse, it's just that…Well… She's looking up a certain event that I don't see how she would even know about. Much less why anyone would come to Hazzard to look up these articles. An event that happened more than twenty years ago this month."_

"I see." Jesse was silent for several moments before he continued. "I appreciate you tellin' me, Sarah. I don't think that there are any laws again' lookin' through old newspapers; though I do agree that is rather odd for someone to be showin' up out of nowhere so just do me a favor and keep an eye out for me."

_"Will do, Jesse,"_ Sarah said as she glanced toward the closed door that led to the room that she'd left the stranger in only moments before. _"And Jesse, I didn't mean to call and upset ya. It's just… Well… You know that we all still feel for ya about Martha and all."_

"I know. Like I said, thank ye. I'd best get to cookin' now. Daisy's at work and the boys'll be in for a bite in just a bit."

With that, Jesse bade Sarah good-bye and hung up. He then walked over to the refrigerator and stared absently for several moments inside as he felt haunted by memories of the past as well as the uncertainty of what had happened so long ago. That was the hardest part; the not knowing. Now to hear that some stranger was poking around and looking into his daughter's disappearance, somehow he felt violated.


	5. Let Me Tell You a Story C2

_**Let Me tell you a Story: Chapter 2**_

That Friday night, Martha finished her chores in record time before digging out her new sweater to go out with her friends. As the rest of the family sat down for supper together, Martha hopped into her father's truck and headed out to the pizza joint in CapitalCity. The girls had decided to meet there and eat before going across the street to see the latest movie.

Martha turned the radio on in the truck and began to sing along as she enjoyed her first taste of freedom. For a Duke, there was no greater pleasure than being out on the open road with a full tank of gas. No, she took that back. There was no greater pleasure than being out on the open road with a full tank of gas without her parents or cousins riding shot-gun. To be completely alone in the truck without her father reminding her to slow down around Gibson's pass or her mother holding on to the door handle as the car turned this way or that way while she was driving just a bit faster than her mother would have.

With the sun quickly going down, Martha flipped her headlights on and continued to bounce in the driver's seat to the rhythm of the music. She was only three miles from the county line when Martha saw a car stopped right in the middle of the road. Its doors were wide open but she didn't see anyone inside.

Martha stomped hard on the brakes, locking them up in the process, to avoid hitting the car. Once the truck came to a complete stop, Martha took a deep breath and glanced around. Looking out past the beams of the headlights, Martha couldn't see anything in the darkness of the back road that led in and out of Hazzard.

Concerned that the driver of the car could be hurt, Martha opened her door and got out of the truck to take a look around. The car's interior light had burned out so the inside of the vehicle was as dark as the road and the surrounding woods. This allowed Martha to see very little of the inside until she had gotten right up to the car.

Inside the car, Martha couldn't see any evidence that the driver was still anywhere around. There were no personal belongs in the seats whatsoever. Martha then checked to see if the car was out of gas as a reason for it to be sitting in the middle of the road like it was but it appeared to have a full tank. Curious, Martha leaned back out of the car as she looked around the road.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to call the Sheriff's station once I get into CapitalCity and let Sheriff Varney know about this."

Martha headed back toward her father's truck so she could get back under way. She knew that she would have to be careful getting around the car since if she went too far to either side the truck would get stuck in the deep ditches on either side of the road on this stretch. Looking at those ditches, she fully understood how the familiar phrase that always seemed to be said when one left a friend or a neighbor behind came about. If a car didn't stay between the ditches in areas like this it wasn't about to go anywhere else on its own.

As Martha neared the truck, she heard a twig snap just off in the woods. Thinking that it could be the driver, she hollered out only to get no answer. Getting an uneasy feeling, Martha walked faster to the open door of the truck. She knew that the woods could hide wild animals in them and she had no plans to meet any of them on her way to the movie.

Just as Martha lifted her right leg to jump up into the truck, a hand reached forward and pulled her back. Caught off balance, Martha fell backwards onto the muddy dirt road and stared up at the shadowy images of at least three men. All of them were dressed all in black but she couldn't see any of their faces. All she knew was that she had chosen the wrong night to go off on her own.

**~01~**

Jesse walked out of the boys' room chuckling to himself as he thought about how Bo had still sulked a bit when reminded that he and the others would have to get their chores done early so that they could get to the church the next morning for the Christmas Pageant practice. Bo was still holding out that one of the other kids got sick so that he could swipe parts with them. He so desperately wanted to avoid having to sit up in front of the whole church with cotton balls stuck to his face that he had even said that he'd rather be a camel than a lamb.

In the hall, he and Lavinia switched rooms as she went into tell the boys goodnight and Jesse did the same to Daisy. Afterwards, the two retired to the kitchen as they waited for Martha to return home from her night out with her friends. In the meantime, Jesse sat at the table to go over his figures for just how much seed he needed to buy come the spring and how much money they had left over for their winter expenses once he set some aside for the seeds. The way he figured it, he'd need to make at least three runs a month to keep things going in the household. He wasn't sure how he'd make ends meet if it wasn't for the money that he made from running of moonshine on the side.

By the time Jesse had finished going over his figures, he noticed that it was well after ten o'clock. Martha was late despite her adamant promises that she'd come straight home after the movie. He hated to do it but he knew that he'd have to tell his daughter that she'd have to cancel her plans to head out with Cooter the following night. If she couldn't make it home on time or call with a decent excuse then she didn't deserve the freedom to go out two nights in a row just yet.

Over at the sink, Lavinia poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and watched through the window hoping to see the truck's headlights shining up the driveway. She eyed Jesse and noticed that he'd gone over the same figures at least a half a dozen times. Shaking her head, Lavinia walked over to her chair in the living room and pulled out her knitting to work on while they waited for their daughter to return home from her night out with her friends.

Nearly three hours after the couple had sat down to wait for Martha to stumble home, Jesse had had enough and threw up his hands and told his wife that he was going out to look for Martha for himself. He grabbed the keys to his moon runner (Martha had their only vehicle for everyday use) and went in search of his daughter. He scoured back roads between the farm and CapitalCity but didn't find a single sign of his daughter or truck. Meanwhile, Lavinia got on the phone and called each of Martha's friends and woke each of them up to ask them just what time they had all left the movie theater in the next county. When Helen and the others told Lavinia that Martha had never shown and they had assumed that she just hadn't been allowed to go in the first place, Lavinia began to panic.

**~01~**

**Note from the author:**

**Please feel free to review and give me your thoughts on it.**

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**What could be improved?**


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